I ask myself the same question every January. Did I really have to lose the plot over the 12 days of Christmas? That box of Terry’s Chocolate Orange would have safely sat for months on a shelf. Instead it’s now sitting on my inner thighs! Will I ever learn? Probably not but, I enjoyed every morsel, every cheese ball and every drop of Shiraz that washed it down.
The beauty is we get to hit the reset button this month and if ever we needed a reset it was after 2020.
I almost relish the challenge every year after my indulgences. Out with the old and in with new, and all those good vibes.
Veganuary is now a thing, as is dry January, and I for one embrace both. The Shiraz is on hold and the plant-based ideas running around my head all last year are coming to fruition, and to the table.
Once upon a time — 28 years ago — I lived in Italy. There are many fine things to love about Italy but the fact that they eat cake, or cookies for breakfast surely has to make the top-10 list.
Here’s a great recipe for a vegan and sugar-free cake. (I also happen to make it gluten free with a simple adjustment.) It ticks all the boxes in our house, packed with pineapple, applesauce, bananas and seeds. It’s not specifically Italian in nature — I wrote a whole other book on cakes that are —but I feel it would be welcomed on any breakfast table nonetheless. Time to brew that espresso and hit the reset buttons.
Hummingbird cake
(Serves 8)
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour* (see notes)
3 Tbsp ground almonds
½ cup nuts or seeds of choice
1 ½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp sea salt
¼ cup olive oil
1/3 cup avocado oil
½ cup each of mashed banana, crushed pineapple, applesauce and water
½ cup granulated monk fruit, coconut sugar or brown sugar* see notes
1 Tbsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Icing:
4 oz vegan cream cheese or cashew cheese, softened
2 Tbsp soft vegan butter
½ cup powdered sugar or powdered erythritol
A few drops of natural food coloring or beetroot powder
Edible flowers (optional)
Method:
Preheat oven to 350F (175C)
Grease or spray a 9” round baking tin.
Stir together the flour, almonds, nuts, baking soda, baking powder, sea salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
In a medium bowl mix all the wet ingredients together. Gently mix the flour and dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Combine until well blended.
Pour into the prepared pan. Smooth the top with a spatula.
Bake in the center of the oven for 45-55 minutes until the top is golden brown. Insert a toothpick or skewer into the center of the cake; it should come out clean. I also like to press gently on the top center of the cake and if it springs back the cake is done.
Cool in the pan preferably on a cooling rack.
For the Icing:
Beat all ingredients, except the edible flowers together until light and fluffy.
Spread over the cooled cake with a spatula. Sprinkle with the edible flowers.
Notes:
We make this cake with all purpose gluten-free flour. I like to use King Arthur but any brand should work. I also add a ½ tsp of xanthan gum to my mix.
This cake is made sugar-free with a little addition of monk fruit. I’ve also made it with coconut sugar, brown sugar and organic cane sugar.
You can use any oil of choice here but I’m really partial to the fruity flavour of olive oil in my cakes.
In 2012, on vacation in France, she discovered chocolate bark. Stores across Bayonne, Biarritz and that sunny, surfing region of France sold slabs of Belgian chocolate studded with exotic fruits, spices, nuts and oils: a new culinary adventure ensued. She started her second business upon return from that vacation before she unpacked her suitcase and her tan faded! Gusto chocolates was born, and two years later her chocolate bark creation won a silver medal in Canada, in the International Chocolate Awards, and a bronze in the world finals in London.
The word gusto means relish or enjoyment and vigor in doing something and while fitting for her business it was also very simply inspired from her children’s favorite movie,Ratatouille, and the imaginary character Chef Gusteau! The true meaning of Gusto, for Paula, is passion. Food is hers.
“Food has shaped me my entire life and I don’t just mean pants size. It’s what makes me tick.” she writes in the beautiful upcoming book Pursuit:365, launching March 8th on International Women’s Day in which she is a co-author with 364 inspirational women.
Her passion for baking took a turn in 2018 when she took a big step back from her wedding cake business to focus on another route, while keeping her feet firmly planted in the kitchen of course.
Her new operation – creating goods for those with dietary restrictions – slowly evolved from 2014 when her son got sick. Certain foods clearly didn’t agree with him and she had to recreate his menu, abandoning many of the cornerstones of her pastry diploma: flour, eggs, dairy and sugar. He’s been the inspiration behind this new launch and she wanted to create for others in the same predicament her family found themselves in. She created new recipes to cover these needs. (Her daughter was her inspiration to start her business in 2005 when she needed to be around her family more and less at work.)
Paula’s first book – Desserts with Gusto: Exploring La Dolce Vita – is packed with some of Italy’s incredible desserts and sweet treats. She’s busily working on her second book Plant-Based & Gluten-Free with Gusto coming out this fall. These recipes she now shares can be found among almost 100 creations that can be adapted to fit anyone’s diet and lifestyle. She firmly believes there’s nothing as unifying and gratifying as cooking for others. “There is no love sincerer than the love of food.” George Bernard Shaw. She couldn’t agree more.
